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Duke  University  Libraries 

The  following  c 
Conf  Pam  12mo  #749 

D,:^^DS5^773 


(Office  of  (Cbief  Gjtmtmnasttr, 

Dkivm:  i -mkn  r  of  So.  (.'a.,  Ga*«  axi>   Ft. a. 

ChorletU-n,  v.  a,  August  18,  1864. 

The  following  communication  has  boon  received  from  the  Quar- 
termaster-Generai,  in  reply  to  the  following  questions,  and  is  pub- 
lished tor  the  information  of  all  concerned: 

1.  When  does  Par.  V.  General  Orders  Xo.  59  (C.  8.).  A.  and 
I.  G.'s  Office,  go  into  effect  '.' 

'1.    Is  not  an  order  approved   by  an  officer  :is   valid   n>   if  issued 
1>\   him  ? 
'.:.   U  Par.  V.  General  Orders  No,  59,  A.  afad'I.  G  's  Office, 

(C.  S.)  intended  to  cover   ihp  time  necessarily  oeoupie^in  the 
execution  of  an  order 


M#& 


Confederate  States  of  America. 
()U.A  IJTKini  ASTEPv-CEXERALS  office. 
Richmond,  Wth  August,  1864. 

Si  ii :  The  following  reply  is  given  to  your  inquiries,  submitted 
t>y  letter  of  date  July  25,  1864,  in  the  order  in  which  thev  are 
propounded : 

1.  The  allowance  of  ten  dollars  per  diem  operates  upon  all 
cases  where  the  journey  charged  for  has  been  performed  subse- 
quently to  the  approval  of  the  Act  of  Congress,  to  wit:  June  4, 
1804,  except  when  the  officer  has  received  his  expenses  under  pro- 
nous  regulations,  not  having  information  of  the  passage  of  the 
taw,  in  which  case  the  voucher  will  not  be  thrown  out.  When 
i  lie  journey  has  been  performed  prior  to  the' passage  of  the  law, 
and  payment  is  sought  after  the  passage,  the  former  regulations 
must  prevail.  General  Orders  No.  59,  paragraph  V,  is  nothing 
more  than  the  construction  takes  effect  from  the  date  of  the  approval 
of  the  law;  the  ten  dollars  per  day  dates,  therefore,  from  the  date 
of  the  approval  of  the  Act  of  Congress,  viz:   June  -1.  18(54.     This 


must  be  bo,  for,  if  it  dated  only  from  the  publication  of  the  General 

Order,  the  Act  might  never  prevail  for  the  lack  of  publication, 
which  would  be  to  render  the  Act  of  Congress  nugatory  or  depend- 
ant upon  t ho  A.  and  I.  General's  Offic.6,  which  they  are  not. 

l.  An  order  approved  at  Department  Head-quarters  ha-  'the 
same  validity  as  if  Issued  by  Department  Head-quarters. 

:'..  A  fair  and  liberal  construction  is  intended  to  be  placed  upon 
the  Act  of  Congress  and  General  Order,  and,  therefore,  the  ten, 
dollars  per  diem  will  be  allowed  for  the  period  reasonably  and 
necessarily  occupied  in  the  performance  of  the  service  under  the 
order  :  but  this  is  not  intended  to  include  unreasonable  or  unneces- 
sary delay,  not  warranted  by  the  nature  of  the  orders ;  to  illustrate. 
an  officer  is  ordered  by  competent  authority  on  inspection  duty, 
and  is  absent  in  the  performance  of  that  duty  twenty  days,  though 
not  travelling  actually  all  the  while:  he  is  entitled  to  the  ten  dol- 
lars per  diem  for  twenty  days ;  and  when  an  officer  is  ordered  to 
proceed  from  Charleston  to  Richmond,  travelling  in  the  customary 
and  reasonable  manner,  is  delayed  by  failure  of  connection  or 
interruption  oiVthe  railroad,  he  is 'fairly  entitled  for  the  time  so 
delayed,  but*not  if  he  voluntarily  stops,  and  thereby  cause  unrea- 
sonable and  unnecessary  delay.  When  delays  have  occurred,  th*- 
officer  should  always  cover  the  same  with  a  certificate,  setting  out 
the  causes  thereof,  which,  if  reasonable,  will  be  allowed,  not  to 
exceed  five  (5)  days  at  any  one  place. 

4.  A^  the  Act  of  Congress  and  the  construction  placed  thereon 
by  General  Order  No.  •">','.  limit  transportation  and  the  per  diem 
allowance  to  a  considerable  extent,  and  should  always  be  taken 
by  the  disbursing  officer  to  examine  strictly  the  order  authorizing 
the  journey  before  payment  is  made,  to  see  that  it  conforms  strictly 
r«.  the  law  and  said  General  Order. 

Very  respectfully,  your  ob'l   servant, 
[Sign,.!  |  A.  K.  ULWTON, 

Quarter-mo  tier  Qene.r<rt, 
To  Major  Hutsos  Lee,  Quartermaster, 
Charleston.  S.  C. 


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Hollinger  Corp. 
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